Multi-service provider wireless access point

ABSTRACT

Novel tools and techniques that can provide wireless service for multiple service providers from a single, multi-service provider wireless access point. In an aspect, a multi-service provider wireless access point might communicate with a plurality of wireless devices, each associated with a different wireless carrier, and route communications from each device to the appropriate carrier (and/or, similarly, transmit communications from each carrier to the appropriate wireless device). In this way, for example, a single wireless access point could provide service to cellphones of subscribers of a number of different carriers. Such a wireless access point can provide enhanced efficiency and reduced cost, along with the ability to provide higher service for a number of wireless carriers.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/808,973, filed Jul. 24, 2015 by Robert J. Morrill et al. andentitled, “Multi-Service Provider Wireless Access Point”, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/827,163 (now U.S.Pat. No. 9,392,641), filed Mar. 14, 2013 by Robert J. Morrill et al. andentitled, “Multi-Service Provider Wireless Access Point”, which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/541,839 (nowU.S. Pat. No. 9,497,800), filed Jul. 5, 2012 by Charles Ivan Cook andentitled “Multi-Service Provider Wireless Access Point”, the entiredisclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety for all purposes.

COPYRIGHT STATEMENT

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialthat is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates, in general, to wireless service providernetworks, and more particularly, to tools and techniques that enable asingle base station to serve subscribers of multiple service providers.

BACKGROUND

Wireless service providers employ access points (also known in the artas “base stations”) to provide wireless service to wireless subscriberdevices (such as cell phones, wireless PDAs, wireless tablet computers,wireless modems, and the like). The location of such access points isoften constrained by geographic features, local regulation, and/or cost.To address some of these issues, multiple wireless service providerswill often collocate base stations, resulting in a single location (suchas a tower, building spire, etc.) having multiple antennas, radios, andother base station hardware.

This solution is inefficient because it results in a large degree ofhardware redundancy, but it is often unavoidable, for several reasons.For instance, most wireless providers are allocated a discrete frequencyband for their exclusive use, and a given wireless provider will employbase station hardware tuned specifically for that provider's allocatedspectrum. Additionally, each provider's base station maintains exclusiveconnectivity with that provider's network. Thus, while the concept of a“shared” access point that can serve multiple wireless providers couldprovide enhanced efficiencies, both in terms of cost and utilization oflimited space in prime locations, the realization of that concept isconstrained by significant technical hurdles.

One such hurdle is the disparities in radio frequency (“RF”)communications employed by different wireless providers to providecommunication between the access point and the subscribers' wirelessdevices. These disparities include different transmission frequencybands, different modulation schemes, and the like. Another hurdle is thedistribution of traffic between a shared access point and the networksof different wireless providers. Using conventional techniques, there isno way to distinguish the traffic of one wireless provider from another.These issues, and others, stand in the way of effective implementationof shared wireless access points.

Hence, there is a need for solutions that can overcome technical hurdlesto allow the provision of shared wireless access points.

BRIEF SUMMARY

A set of embodiments offers solutions that can provide wireless servicefor multiple service providers from a single, multi-service providerwireless access point. In an aspect, a multi-service provider wirelessaccess point might communicate with a plurality of wireless devices,each associated with a different wireless carrier, and routecommunications from each device to the appropriate carrier (and/or,similarly, transmit communications from each carrier to the appropriatewireless device). In this way, for example, a single wireless accesspoint could provide service to cellphones of subscribers of a number ofdifferent carriers. Such a wireless access point can provide enhancedefficiency and reduced cost, along with the ability to provide higherservice for a number of wireless carriers.

Various embodiments provide features to enable and enhance suchfunctionality. Merely by way of example, some embodiments featurededicated communication links between the multi-service providerwireless access point and each of the providers served by the accesspoint. Other embodiments can provide dedicated management platforms toenable each provider to manage that provider's wireless service throughthe access point. Still other embodiments can provide statisticstracking and billing features to enhance the provision of service formultiple providers through a single access point.

The tools provided by various embodiments include, without limitation,methods, systems, and/or software products. Merely by way of example, amethod might comprise one or more procedures, any or all of which areexecuted by a computer system. Correspondingly, an embodiment mightprovide a computer system configured with instructions to perform one ormore procedures in accordance with methods provided by various otherembodiments. Similarly, a computer program might comprise a set ofinstructions that are executable by a computer system (and/or aprocessor therein) to perform such operations. In many cases, suchsoftware programs are encoded on physical, tangible and/ornon-transitory computer readable media (such as, to name but a fewexamples, optical media, magnetic media, and/or the like).

Merely by way of example, a method of providing wireless service formultiple service providers from a single access point, in accordancewith one set of embodiments, might comprise providing a multi-serviceprovider wireless access point. The access point, in one aspect, mighthaving one or more radios to communicate with wireless devices and anuplink connection to a plurality of wireless service providers. Themethod might further comprise receiving, at the multi-service providerwireless access point, a communication from a wireless device.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises collecting, e.g., atthe multi-service provider wireless access point, an identifier of thewireless device from the communication, and/or identifying, from theidentifier of the wireless device, a wireless service provider servingthe wireless device. The method might further comprise receiving, at themulti-service provider wireless access point, one or more subsequentcommunications from the wireless device, and/or routing, from themulti-service provider wireless access point, the one or more subsequentcommunications to the identified wireless service provider, over theuplink connection.

A method in accordance with other embodiments might comprise providing amulti-service provider wireless access point, which might have one ormore radios to communicate with wireless devices and/or an uplinkinterface to provide an uplink connection to a plurality of wirelessservice providers. The method might further comprise establishing, foreach of the plurality of service providers, a dedicated managementplatform for each service provider to manage wireless service providedby that service provider. In some embodiments, the method furthercomprises providing a plurality of dedicated communication links, eachof which might providing secure communication between the uplinkinterface and one of the wireless service providers. In furtherembodiments, the method could comprise receiving, at the multi-serviceprovider wireless access point, a communication from a wireless deviceserved by a first wireless service provider, and/or transmitting thecommunication to the first wireless service provider over a firstdedicated communication link associated with the first service provider.Merely by way of example, the method described above might be employedto determined how to transmit the communication to the first wirelessservice provider.

A multi-service provider wireless access point in accordance withanother set of embodiments might comprise one or more radios tocommunicate with wireless devices and an uplink connection to aplurality of wireless service providers. The access point might furthercomprise one or more processors. In one aspect, there might be aplurality of processors, including one or more processors dedicated toeach wireless provider, to provide each provider with a discreteprocessing system to provide wireless service for each respectiveservice provider's subscribers. In another aspect, the one or moreprocessors might be configured to support a plurality of virtualmachines with one or more virtual machines dedicated to each wirelessservice provider, to provide each wireless service provider with adiscrete processing system to provide wireless service for eachrespective service provider's subscribers.

In some cases, the wireless access point might further comprise anon-transitory machine readable medium having encoded thereon a set ofinstructions executable by the processor to perform one or moreoperations, including without limitation instructions to performoperations in accordance with methods provided by various embodiments.

Merely by way of example, in one embodiment, the set of instructionsmight comprise instructions to receive a communication from a wirelessdevice, and instructions to obtain, from the communication, anidentifier of the wireless device. The set of instructions might furtherinclude instructions to identify, from the identifier of the wirelessdevice, a wireless service provider serving the wireless device. In somecases, the set of instructions might comprise instructions to receiveone or more subsequent communications from the wireless device, and/orinstructions to route the one or more subsequent communications to theidentified wireless service provider, over the uplink connection.Alternatively and/or additionally, the set of instructions mightcomprise instructions to establish, for each of the plurality of serviceproviders, a dedicated management console for each service provider tomanage wireless service provided by that service provider; instructionsto receive a communication from a wireless device assigned to asubscriber of a first wireless service provider; and/or instructions totransmit the communication to the first wireless service provider over afirst dedicated communication link associated with the first serviceprovider.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A further understanding of the nature and advantages of particularembodiments may be realized by reference to the remaining portions ofthe specification and the drawings, in which like reference numerals areused to refer to similar components. In some instances, a sub-label isassociated with a reference numeral to denote one of multiple similarcomponents. When reference is made to a reference numeral withoutspecification to an existing sub-label, it is intended to refer to allsuch multiple similar components.

FIGS. 1A-1F are block diagrams illustrating systems for providingwireless services for multiple service providers through a single accesspoint, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are process flow diagrams illustrating methods ofproviding wireless services for multiple service providers through asingle access point, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a generalized schematic diagram illustrating a computersystem, in accordance with various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN EMBODIMENTS

While various aspects and features of certain embodiments have beensummarized above, the following detailed description illustrates a fewexemplary embodiments in further detail to enable one of skill in theart to practice such embodiments. The described examples are providedfor illustrative purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of theinvention.

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the described embodiments. It will be apparent to oneskilled in the art, however, that other embodiments of the present maybe practiced without some of these specific details. In other instances,certain structures and devices are shown in block diagram form. Severalembodiments are described herein, and while various features areascribed to different embodiments, it should be appreciated that thefeatures described with respect to one embodiment may be incorporatedwith other embodiments as well. By the same token, however, no singlefeature or features of any described embodiment should be consideredessential to every embodiment of the invention, as other embodiments ofthe invention may omit such features.

Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers used herein to expressquantities, dimensions, and so forth used should be understood as beingmodified in all instances by the term “about.” In this application, theuse of the singular includes the plural unless specifically statedotherwise, and use of the terms “and” and “or” means “and/or” unlessotherwise indicated. Moreover, the use of the term “including,” as wellas other forms, such as “includes” and “included,” should be considerednon-exclusive. Also, terms such as “element” or “component” encompassboth elements and components comprising one unit and elements andcomponents that comprise more than one unit, unless specifically statedotherwise.

A set of embodiments offers solutions that can provide wireless servicefor multiple service providers from a single, multi-service providerwireless access point. Thus, instead of requiring multiple access pointscollocated at the same location (or located near one another), certainembodiments can allow for the installation of a single access point,with substantial efficiencies in cost, space, and aesthetics, whilestill serving subscribers of multiple service providers. Someembodiments can support different wireless access technologies (codedivision multiple access (“CDMA”), Global System for Mobilecommunications (“GSM”), Long Term Evolution (“LTE”), etc.) and/ordifferent frequency bands (e.g., 700 MHz, 1800 MHz, etc.) employed bydifferent carriers using one or more radios in the access point. Someembodiments can support technologies, such as WiFi, developed for and/ordeployed in unlicensed spectrum; other embodiments might employcognitive radio technologies designed to share spectrum, such as “TVWhite Space” spectrum. Various embodiments can include dedicatedhardware components and/or virtual, software-defined components.

In another aspect, a multi-service provider wireless access point mightcommunicate with a plurality of wireless devices, each associated with adifferent wireless carrier. The access point might feature an uplinkconnection that provides connectivity with each of the wireless serviceproviders, and the access point might route communications from eachdevice over the uplink connection to the appropriate provider (and/or,similarly, transmit communications from each provider to the appropriatewireless device).

Some aspects of different embodiments provide various features to enableand enhance such functionality. Merely by way of example, someembodiments feature dedicated communication links between themulti-service provider wireless access point and each of the providersserved by the access point. These secure links (e.g., virtual privatenetwork (“VPN”) links can allow for secure transmission of wirelesstraffic to and from the wireless provider's core network (or an edgerouter thereof, to be more precise) as well as provide the wirelessprovider with secure access for management purposes. Each provider'slink capacity may be fixed, dynamic or a combination thereof.

Correspondingly, some embodiments can provide dedicated managementplatforms to enable each provider to manage that provider's wirelessservice through the access point. In an aspect, the dedicated wirelesslink for a particular provider can provide access to that provider'smanagement platform. Such management platforms can provide each wirelessprovider with an interface to configure various parameters related tothe wireless service offered by that provider through the access point,such as radio control, implementation of various wireless standardsand/or versions thereof (such as 3GPP LTE Release 9, LTE Release 10,etc.), and the like. In another aspect, the management platforms canallow providers to implement radio coordination schemes, for example, sothat the multi-provider wireless access point can integrate with eachprovider's wireless network (and the other base stations/access pointsimplemented by each particular provider in such networks).

Still other embodiments can provide statistics tracking and billingfeatures to enhance the provision of service for multiple providersthrough a single access point. Merely by way of example, in someembodiments, the access point can be configured to compile a variety ofperformance statistics and categorize those statistics by provider. Thestatistics relevant to each provider can then be made available to thatprovider (e.g., though the management platform, via transmission overthe respective dedicated link, etc.). In some cases, these statisticscan be used for pricing the cost of the service to the provider (e.g.,on a usage basis). In a particular set of embodiments, the access pointmight be configured to collect statistics even for providers whocurrently do not use the access point to provide wireless service (e.g.,by tracking registration requests or other communications from devicesthat subscribe to that provider); such statistics can be provided to thenon-participating provider as a tool to encourage the provider to offerservice through the access point (e.g., by illustrating to the providerhow many subscribers could be served better by the access point than bythe provider's existing network).

FIG. 1A illustrates a system 100 employing a multi-service providerwireless access point 105 in accordance with one set of embodiments. Themulti-service provider wireless access point 105 provides communicationbetween a wireless device 110 and one of a plurality of wireless serviceproviders (carriers) 115. As illustrated by FIG. 1A, the multi-serviceprovider wireless access point 105 comprises a processor 120, which canbe programmed with instructions to control the operation of themulti-service provider wireless access point 105, and/or performoperations, as described herein (including causing the multi-serviceprovider wireless access point 105 to operate in accordance with themethods described below). The multi-service provider wireless accesspoint 105 also comprises a wireless radio 125 in communication with theprocessor 120 and an antenna 130. The radio 125 communicates with thewireless device 110, via the antenna 130 using wireless radio frequency(“RF”) signals.

An uplink interface 135 in communication with the processor 120 providesan uplink connection with the plurality of wireless service providers115, providing connectivity between the multi-service provider wirelessaccess point 105 and the providers 115 (and, ultimately, between thewireless device 110 and one of the providers 115, through themulti-service provider wireless access point 105). The uplink interface135, as can be appreciated, generally will be specific to the type ofuplink connection, and the interface 135 can include whatever hardwareand/or software are necessary or appropriate to support the uplinkconnection, such as an appropriate port, communication chipset, etc. Avariety of different uplink connections are possible in accordance withdifferent embodiments. For instance, in some cases, the uplinkconnection can comprise an Ethernet connection and/or the like.Additionally and/or alternatively, the uplink connection might comprisean optical connection, such as a passive optical network (“PON”)circuit, a synchronous optical network (“SONET”) ring, and/or the like.Any type of digital access technology, including without limitationdigital subscriber line (“DSL”), Data Over Cable Service InterfaceSpecification (“DOCSIS”), etc., can be used to provide the uplinkconnection, provided the digital access technology has sufficientperformance functionality to support the traffic passing through theaccess point 105.

The uplink connection, in an aspect, might provide connectivity betweenthe multi-service provider wireless access point 105 and atelecommunication provider's core network, which in turn providesconnectivity to each of the wireless service providers 115 (e.g.,through peering relationships, the Internet, etc.). Thetelecommunication provider might be, but need not necessarily be, one ofthe wireless service providers 115. Alternatively and/or additionally,if a wireless service provider 115 has a relationship with a wirelineservice provider operating the access point 105, it is possible that thewireless service provider 115 could have the access point 105 direct theconnection to the wireline or other service provider to perform callprocessing on behalf of the wireless service provider 115 that actuallyserves the subscriber. Similarly, if one wireless service provider 115 ahas a relationship with a second wireless service provider 115 b, suchthat the second service provider 115 b has access to necessaryauthentication information, the second service 115 b provider couldassume the responsibility of call processing of the original serviceprovider 115 a in the case of an emergency by securely informing themultiservice access point via an update to a provider identificationdatabase (described below) to route the calls to the second serviceprovider 115 b. Alternatively and/or additionally, a single serviceprovider 115 could use a similar database update technique to routecalls from the access point 105 to an alternate mobile switching center(“MSC”) for load balancing or other reasons.

The multi-service provider wireless access point 105 might also includea computer readable storage medium 140, such as a hard drive, solidstate memory, firmware, etc. This medium can store instructions forprogramming the processor 120 to cause the multi-service providerwireless access point 105 to operate as described herein. The medium 140might also have stored thereon one or more databases (or other datastores) as described in further detail below. (Such databases/datastores can also be located in other locations, so long as they areaccessible—e.g., via the uplink connection—to the multi-service providerwireless access point 105).

Various embodiments can support a number of different processingarchitectures and a number of different radio and antenna arrangements.Merely by way of example, FIG. 1A illustrates a multi-service providerwireless access point 105 with a single processor 120, a single radio125 and a single antenna 130. In other embodiments, as illustrated byFIG. 1B, a multi-service provider wireless access point 105 mightcomprise a single radio 125 in communication with a plurality ofantennas. In further embodiments, as illustrated by FIG. 1C. amulti-service provider wireless access point might comprise a pluralityof radios 125, each of which is in communication with one (or more) of aplurality of antennas 130. In an aspect, the use of multiple antennas130 can enable efficient transmission and reception over a wide range ofradio spectrum. In certain embodiments, for example, the processor 120is programmed to manage which antenna or antennas 130 is used at anygiven instant of time, either directly or through a switching mechanism.

These different arrangements (as illustrated in non-limiting fashion byFIGS. 1A-1F) can support a number of different configurations that allowthe multi-service provider wireless access point 105 to provide wirelessservice to subscribers of multiple providers 115. Merely by way ofexample, in the embodiment illustrated by FIG. 1C, each radio 125 mighttransmit/receive on a frequency band that is allocated to one or moreproviders 115. For instance, one radio 125 a might transmit and receiveon the 700/800 MHz band, which is allocated (e.g., by the FCC) to,and/or used by, a first provider 115 a. Another radio 125 b mighttransmit and receive on the 1800/1900 MHz band, which might be allocatedto, and/or used by, Provider B 115 b and Provider C 115 c. In otherembodiments, different radios 125 might support different modulationand/or access technologies; for example, one radio 125 might communicateusing CDMA, while another radio might communicate using GSM, and a thirdradio might communicate using LTE. Many such arrangements are possible,and embodiments are not limited to the use of licensed spectrum. In anexemplary aspect of some embodiments, unlike conventionally collocated,but separate, access points for different providers, all of the radiosare part of the same access point 105, are controlled by the sameprocessor 120 (or processors) and share an uplink interface 135.

In other configurations, such as those illustrated by FIGS. 1A and 1B, asingle radio 125 might communicate (i.e., transmit and/or receive) onmultiple frequency bands and/or for multiple providers 115. A number ofdifferent techniques can be used to provide this functionality. Merelyby way of example, in some embodiments, the radio 125 employs orthogonalfrequency-division multiple access (“OFDMA”) modulation to allow theradio 125 to transmit on multiple bands. In some cases, as illustratedby FIG. 1B, a single radio 125 might communicate through a plurality ofantennas 130, and the antennas 130 can be assigned to differentsub-bands, such that the radio 125 communicates on a particular sub-bandusing a particular antenna 130 or antennas. As described in furtherdetail below, the antenna(s) 130 for a particular sub-band might beselected to optimize the performance for that sub-band. Merely by way ofexample, the antennas 130 might have different lengths and/or differentradiating characteristics (e.g., omni-directional, Yagi, etc.), and thelength of a particular antenna might be tuned a portion of radiofrequency spectrum where it radiates and receives RF energy efficiently.

As noted above, different embodiments support a variety ofconfigurations. For example, some embodiments support multiple carriers(wireless service providers) on the same radio 125 assuming that thecarriers are using the same radio technology (e.g., LTE, WiMAX, etc.)and/or employ compatible frequency ranges (even if modulation schemesare different, in some cases). In some such embodiments, this can bedone using a base radio 125 that is able to operate over a wide spectrumband and logic to match the appropriate antenna(s) 130 to the radio 125at the time they are needed. Another set of embodiments, however, canemploy a dynamic implementation of a software defined radio (“SDR”) asthe radio 125. Multiple instances of an SDR can be run by a processor(e.g., the processor 120), and the processor can match the appropriatemodulated signal to the appropriate antenna. So Provider A 115 a couldcommunicate with its subscribers over LTE using spectrum Aa and ProviderB 115 b could transmit/receive over WiMAX using spectrum Bb. Theprocessor 120, then, could execute instances of the SDR and map theappropriate antennas 130 to service both providers. The number of SDRsthat could be supported might depend on the number of processors (and/orprocessor cores, virtualized processor instances, etc.) and/or the speedof those processors/instances.

In some cases, an access point might include additional or modifiedfeatures to enhance the ability of the access point to provide serviceon behalf of multiple providers. Merely by way of example, FIG. 1Dillustrates a multi-service provider wireless access point 105 thatfeatures multiple processors 120 a-120 e, each of which can be assignedfor the use of a respective provider 115 a-115 e. These processors 120a-120 e might be separate, discrete processors, or they might beseparate virtual processors (i.e., separate virtual machines) within avirtual machine (“VM”) environment maintained by the wireless accesspoint 105. In any case, the access point 105 might include a separateprocessor 120 to provide overall control and management of the accesspoint 105, and in a virtualized environment, this processor 120 mighthost all of the virtual machines/virtual processors 120 a-120 e. (Inother embodiments, no separate processor 120 might be included, and theoverall management of the access point 105 can be handled by one of theprocessors 120 a-120 e or shared between multiple processors. In anaspect, each of the processors 120 a-120 e can share a storage medium(not shown on FIG. 1D but similar to the medium illustrated on FIGS.1A-1C) via separate partitions, virtualization etc., and/or each of theprocessors 120 a-120 e can have its own dedicated storage medium).Similarly, each of the processors 120 a-120 e might be in communication(either through a master processor 120 or directly) with the uplinkinterface 135 and/or the radio(s) 125. In an aspect, the uplinkinterface can provide a dedicate communication link (e.g., VPN) betweeneach provider 115 a-115 e and that provider's respective processor 120a-120 e (whether the processors are physical or virtual).

As noted above, a wide variety of configurations of radios and antennasare possible, and this is true for multi-processor access points aswell. Merely by way of example, the access point 105 illustrated by FIG.1D employs a single radio 125 (which might be a software-defined radio,etc.) that can provide service for each of the providers. (In somecases, the master processor 120 might intermediate communicationsbetween the provider-specific processors 120 a-120 e and the radio 125,such that the master processor is logically disposed between theprovider specific processors 120 a-120 e and the radio 125 although theaccess point 105 is not so illustrated in FIG. 1D, so as to manageaccess to the radio 125 and prevent congestion.) In other cases, theaccess point 105 might feature multiple radios 125 a-125 e, for exampleas illustrated in FIG. 1E. In that case, each provider-specificprocessor 120 a-120 e might have direct communication with its ownrespective radio 125 a-125 e, as illustrated. (In some cases, a softwaredefined-radio might feature multiple virtual radios, similar to a VMenvironment, in which case a single physical radio might provide alogical arrangement as depicted in FIG. 1E.)

In another aspect, certain embodiments can offer each provider adedicated management platform, as noted above, to allow each provider tomanage the services provided on behalf of the provider though the accesspoint. Hence, FIG. 1F illustrates a functional arrangement of amulti-service provider wireless access point 105. This arrangement canbe supported by any of the physical arrangements illustrated by FIGS.1A-1E above (and/or any other suitable physical arrangement).

As shown in FIG. 1F, the multi-provider wireless access point 105supports five different providers 115 a-115 e (although embodiments cansupport any reasonable number of providers 115). In particularembodiments, the access point 105 includes a general management platform145, which can be used to access overall access point managementfunctions, such as hardware diagnostics, general configuration, setupfor a new provider, and/or the like. For example, in one aspect, thegeneral management platform 145 can manage routing of communicationsbetween a subscriber and that subscriber's provider. For instance, whena wireless communication is received on a radio 125, the generalmanagement platform can determine (e.g., as described above) whichprovider is associated with that communication and can route thatcommunication to that provider (for example, over a dedicated link tothat provider). The general management platform 145 can also managestatistics collection, e.g., as described in further detail below.

The general management platform can perform a variety of administrativeand management functions as well. Merely by way of example, in somecases, the general management platform can manage common wireless radiocapabilities, such as monitoring general radio functionality, managingbase computing capabilities (memory, processor load, etc.), managingvirtual hypervisor platform capabilities, whether bare metal or softwarebased, in a VM-based environment (e.g., assignment/allocation ofplatform resources), managing common virtual private networkcapabilities. (I.e., VPN tunnel size, routing, etc.), managing overallsecurity of the wireless access point and/or any of theprovider-specific processing systems.

In other aspects, the general management platform 145 can provide alarmsto the operator of the access point, and/or one or more of the wirelessservice providers, if any non-optimal conditions are detected withradios, hardware, etc. Such alarms might be provided by the generalmanagement platform interface and/or interfaces with any particularprovider. In other cases, the alarms can be provided by messaging(electronic mail, text, SMS, etc.) either through the uplink interfaceor through the radios themselves, or both. The general managementplatform 145 can also monitor and/or manage other nearby equipment, suchas electrical power, battery back-up, tower lights, heating and/orcooling equipment, etc. and provide appropriate alarms or notificationsif any unusual conditions are detected.

The general management platform 145 can perform a number of otheradministrative and or supervisory tasks. Merely by way of example, in anaspect, general management platform 145 can perform and/or provide aninterface for the basic FCAPS (Fault, Configuration, Accounting,Provisioning and Surveillance) capabilities. In some cases, the generalmanagement platform 145 can act as a logging repository, capturing anyor all relevant processing events, and providing a historical recordthereof. This logging could include post-event processing and therouting of specific logged information to wireless providers and theaccess point provider. The general management platform 145 can also actto perform specialized functions such as providing ‘free access’ (e.g.,over WiFi, etc.) to certain subscribers for a period of time.

Alternatively and/or additionally, the general management platform 145might perform traffic management. For example, the general managementplatform 145 could manage the priority of traffic of one serviceprovider's (e.g., 115 a) subscriber traffic over another provider's(e.g., 115 b) traffic, depending on the business arrangement that existsbetween the provider of the wireless access point 105 and the respectiveservice providers 115. Merely by way of example, one of the serviceproviders (e.g., 115 a) may pay more in order to be the anchor tenantand will receive preferential treatment during periods of congestion,and the general management platform 145 could accommodate thisrelationship. In other aspects, the general management platform 145 maybe capable of load balancing capacity over multiple service providers.The platform 145 could also be used to configure a minimum level ofperformance/capacity for all service providers. The general managementplatform 145 could be configured prioritize GETS (Government EmergencyTelecommunications Service) traffic in an emergency, etc. The generalmanagement platform 145, in some embodiments, can track usage and/orprovide indicators when certain thresholds are exceeded. In otherembodiments, the general management platform 145 can manage transmitpower levels in response to various conditions such as increasing thecell size (e.g., by increasing transmit power) to provide moreoffloading of an adjacent service provider cell site or other accessnode in periods of heavy load. A communication channel could beestablished to communicate such information when necessary (e.g., viathe uplink interface and/or one or more radios).

In another aspect, the general management platform 145 might beconfigured to monitor the performance of backhaul link (e.g., thededicated links to each provider through the uplink interface) in termsof latency and jitter to ensure sufficient service level agreements(“SLA”) are met to support services offered through the multi-serviceprovider access point 105. Appropriate alarms can be generated totrigger appropriate corrective actions.

The general management platform 145 can comprise a management interfaceand/or any necessary supporting hardware, firmware, or softwarearchitecture. In one aspect, the interface might be a graphical userinterface, which, for example, could be provided by a web portal hostedby the wireless access point 105. Alternatively and/or additionally, theinterface might be an API or a machine-to-machine interface that canaccept input from other network elements, a software client running on aremote computer, etc. In an aspect, the interface can be accessedthrough an uplink interface (not shown on FIG. 1F but illustrated onFIGS. 1A-1E). In some cases, the uplink interface might support a VPNbetween the general management platform 145 and an operator of thewireless access point (who, as noted above, might be one of theparticipating wireless providers 115 or might be a separate entity),such that the general management platform 145 (and/or, more precisely,the interface thereto) is accessible to the operator/provider thereofvia the VPN. In another embodiment, a separate management interface maybe employed to provide out-of-band management access through a separatephysical link, which could be wired or wireless.

In some cases, the wireless access point 105 can also include discretemanagement platforms 150 a-150 e for each of the wireless serviceproviders 115 a-115 e, respectively; each of these platforms 150 a-150 ecan be securely accessible (e.g., via a VPN through the uplinkinterface) by the respective provider 115 a-115 e to which it isassigned. These management platforms 150 a-150 e, which can bearchitecturally similar to the general management platform 145, can behosted by discrete processors (either virtual or physical) assigned toeach of the participating providers 115 a-115 e (as described above)and/or can be in communication with the appropriate provider viadedicated communication links 155 a-155 e, respectively. The discretemanagement platforms 150 can provide their respective providers with theability to manage various aspects of the wireless service provided onbehalf of each provider. Merely by way of example, a management platform150 can receive configuration data from a provider 115 and can configureone or more of the radios 120 based on that configuration data. In aparticular aspect, this configuration can be used by the provider 115 toimplement a radio coordination scheme with the provider's other wirelessfacilities, as described in further detail below.

FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate various methods that can be used to providewireless service through a multi-service provider wireless access point(such as the access points described above). While the methods of FIGS.2 and 3 are illustrated, for ease of description, as different methods,it should be appreciated that the various techniques and procedures ofthese methods can be combined in any suitable fashion, and that, in someembodiments, the methods depicted by FIGS. 2 and 3 can be consideredinteroperable and/or as portions of a single method. Similarly, whilethe techniques and procedures are depicted and/or described in a certainorder for purposes of illustration, it should be appreciated thatcertain procedures may be reordered and/or omitted within the scope ofvarious embodiments. Moreover, while the methods illustrated by FIGS. 2and 3 can be implemented by (and, in some cases, are described belowwith respect to) the system 100 of FIGS. 1A-1F (or components thereof),these methods may also be implemented using any suitable hardwareimplementation. Similarly, while the system 100 of FIGS. 1A-1F (and/orcomponents thereof) can operate according to the methods illustrated byFIGS. 2 and 3 (e.g., by executing instructions embodied on a computerreadable medium), the system 100 can also operate according to othermodes of operation and/or perform other suitable procedures.

In that light, FIG. 2 illustrates a method 200 of providing wirelessservice for multiple service providers from a single access point, inaccordance with one set of embodiments. While the techniques andprocedures of the method 200 are depicted and/or described in a certainorder for purposes of illustration, it should be appreciated thatcertain procedures may be reordered and/or omitted within the scope ofvarious embodiments. Moreover, while the method 200 can be implementedby (and, in some cases, are described below with respect to) the systemsillustrated by FIGS. 1A-1C (or components thereof), these methods mayalso be implemented using any suitable hardware implementation.Similarly, while those systems (and/or components thereof) can operateaccording to the method 200 (e.g., by executing instructions embodied ona computer readable medium), the systems can also operate according toother modes of operation and/or perform other suitable procedures.

The method 200 might comprise providing a multi-service providerwireless access point (block 205). The access point, in one aspect,might having one or more radios to communicate with wireless devices andan uplink connection to a plurality of wireless service providers.Providing an access point can comprise any of a variety of operations,such as installing the access point, providing power and/or networkconnectivity for the access point, communicating with the access point(e.g., via the uplink connection), and/or the like. Broadly stated, anyoperation related to the installation, setup, operation, and/ormaintenance of an access point can be considered providing the accesspoint.

As noted above, an access point radio in certain embodiments mightemploy OFDMA modulation. In some such embodiments, the method 200 mightcomprise mapping one or more OFDMA sub-bands to one or more antennas(block 210), such that when a sub-band is mapped to a particularantenna, the radio employs that antenna to communicate on that sub-band.A number of techniques can be used to map antennas to sub-bands. Merelyby way of example, in some cases, the method might include identifyingcertain antennas in an antenna array that provide enhanced communicationperformance for a particular sub-band, for example, based onsite-specific RF characteristics, antenna length (as compared to thesub-band frequency), etc. The antenna(s) identified as providingenhanced communication for a particular sub-band might then be mapped tothat sub-band.

In some embodiments, the radio(s) might be configured to transmitsignals on particular bands in a round-robin basis, transmitting on oneband, then the next, etc., or according to some other algorithm that mayprovide priority to a particular wireless service provider in aparticular band. The radio can also listen for an access request from aclient radio (e.g., a wireless device). Once a request to access thenetwork is received, the multi-service provider access point can adjustits timing/algorithms so as to appropriately service the call. If onlyone wireless service provider is using the access point, all resourcescan be dedicated to that service provider. The algorithm can bedynamically adjusted based on a variety of parameters, including but notlimited to, the number of service providers sharing the access point,the number of client radios accessing the access point, contractedservice provider priorities, received signal strength, signal-to-noiseratio (“SNR”)/interference indicators, etc. In other words, the accesspoint can be treated as a pooled resource among all the serviceproviders that are sharing it. The access point can also be configuredto provide a subscribed minimum level of access per wireless providerand dynamically share remaining resources across wireless providers.

As illustrated, the method 200 further comprises receiving, at themulti-service provider wireless access point, a communication from awireless device (block 215). For instance, in an embodiment, thecommunication from a wireless device might comprise a conventionalwireless registration message. More broadly, the communication from thewireless device can be any communication that provides sufficientinformation for the multi-service provider wireless access point toidentify the device, as described further below. In some cases, thecommunication might be a response to an interrogating communication fromthe multi-service provider wireless access point itself.

In some embodiments, the method 200 further comprises collecting, e.g.,at the multi-service provider wireless access point, an identifier ofthe wireless device from the communication (block 220). The identifiercan comprise any data that can be used to identify the wireless device.Merely by way of example, the identifier might comprise the telephonenumber assigned to the wireless device. Alternatively, the identifiermight comprise the mobile identification number (“MIN”) of the wirelessdevice, the electronic serial number (“ESN”) of the wireless device, amedia access control (“MAC”) address, or any other identifier that issufficiently unique to permit identification of the wireless device.

The method 200 can further include, at block 225, identifying a wirelessservice provider serving the wireless device; after the wireless serviceprovider has been identified, the multi-service provider wireless accesspoint can register the wireless device with the wireless serviceprovider's network (block 230). A number of techniques can be used toidentify the wireless service provider. For example, in some cases, thecommunication from the wireless device might include informationidentifying the wireless service provider. In other cases, however, theservice provider can be identified, at least in part, based on theidentifier of the wireless device.

For example, some embodiments maintain a database that correlateswireless device identifiers (whether the mobile telephone number, theMIN, the ESN, or another identifier) with wireless service providers. Insome embodiments, the method 200 might comprise storing the database onthe multi-service provider wireless access point. In other embodimentsthe database might be stored at any other suitable location accessibleby the multi-service provider wireless access point. Hence, the databasemight be remote from the multi-service provider wireless access point,and/or the method 200 might comprise accessing the database over theuplink connection.

The database might be populated based on data provided by the wirelessservice providers themselves and/or by data obtained through othersources. Such databases might be replicated among a plurality ofmulti-service provider wireless access points. In one aspect, thedatabase might include a record for a plurality of wireless devices, andthe record might include a field that lists one or more wireless placeidentifiers for that wireless device and a field that contains theidentity of the wireless service provider that provides service for thatwireless device. The wireless device identifier field might be a keyfield in the database, such that the wireless access point can accessthe database and search the database for a record containing theidentifier the wireless device; that record will include an identifierof the wireless service provider.

In some cases, the method comprises identifying a sub-band (e.g., anOFDMA sub-band) for communications between the access point and thewireless device (block 235). Any of a number of factors can be used toidentify a sub-band for communications between the multi-serviceprovider wireless access point and the wireless device. Merely by way ofexample, in some cases, the wireless device might only be capable ofcommunicating on a particular sub-band, which generally would be thesub-band on which the multi-service provider wireless access pointreceived the original communication from the wireless device, and thesub-band can be identified as the sub-band on which the originalcommunication was received.

Alternatively and/or additionally, the multi-service provider wirelessaccess point might identify the sub-band based on the frequency rangethat is allocated to the wireless service provider that serves thewireless device (which can be identified, e.g., as described above). Inthis way, for example, the multi-service provider wireless access pointcan select a sub-band that is appropriate for the wireless device andcorresponding provider. In such embodiments, identifying the sub-bandmight comprise accessing a database that correlates wireless serviceproviders with allocated frequency ranges. (This database might be thesame database the correlates wireless identifiers with wireless serviceproviders and/or might be a different database. As a general matter, thedatabase(s) described herein might be distributed, replicated, tiered,hierarchical, or organized/arranged in any other suitable manner.)

The method then might further comprise searching the database for arecord corresponding to the identified wireless service provider; thatrecord, then, would have a field identifying one or more frequencyranges allocated to that wireless service provider, and themulti-service provider wireless access point then could choose asub-band corresponding to that frequency range. (It should be noted, ofcourse, that in communications originating from the service provider,the identity of the service provider can be determined from suchcommunications, either implicitly, e.g., based on the source address ofthe communication packets, or explicitly, based on some identifierprovided with the communications.)

As noted above, the identified sub-band might be mapped to one or moreantennas of the access point, and the method 200 can further include, atblock 240, communicating with the wireless device using the antenna(s)mapped to the identified sub-band.

In some aspects, the method 200 might further comprise receiving, at themulti-service provider wireless access point, one or more subsequentcommunications from the wireless device (block 245), and/or routing,from the multi-service provider wireless access point, the one or moresubsequent communications to the identified wireless service provider(block 250), e.g., over the uplink connection. Merely by way of example,the uplink connection might comprise a packet data connection (e.g., anEthernet, Multiprotocol Label Switching (“MPLS), or other InternetProtocol (“IP”) connection). The multi-service provider wireless accesspoint, then, might packetize the communications received from thewireless device, address the packets to a network address correspondingto the identified wireless service provider, and transmit the packets(comprising the subsequent communications) over the uplink connection.Using standard routing techniques, those packets then would be routed tothe appropriate wireless service provider. By the same token, packetsreceived from the wireless service provider would be transmitted (e.g.,using the radio, the sub-band, and/or the antenna appropriate for thatwireless service provider and/or wireless device) for reception by thewireless device.

FIG. 3 illustrates another method 300 of providing wireless servicethrough a multi-service provider wireless access point. At block 305,the method 300 comprises providing a wireless access point. In oneaspect, providing a wireless access point can comprise any of a varietyof operations, for example, as discussed above with respect to block 205of FIG. 2.

At block 310, the method 300 comprises establishing one or moremanagement platforms. In a particular aspect, this operation cancomprise establishing, for each of the of service providersparticipating in the access point, a dedicated management platform foreach service provider to manage wireless service provided by thatservice provider. In another aspect, this operation can compriseestablishing a general management platform, separate from each of thededicated management consoles, for managing the wireless access point.With respect to either the general management platform or theprovider-specific management platforms, the management platform mightprovide an interface for the respective provider (and/or access pointoperator) to interact with the (physical or virtual) hardware of theaccess point. A variety of such interfaces are possible within the scopeof different embodiments. Merely by way of example, the interface mightinclude one or more application programming interfaces (“API”), amachine-to-machine interface (e.g., with XML as a transport mechanism),a server interface for dedicated clients running on other machines,and/or the like. The interface can be provided over one or more VPNsspecific to the operator of the access point or any respectiveparticipating provider (depending on which management platform is atissue), and such a VPN can be established through uplink interface, asdescribed above, and/or through any of the radios of the wireless accesspoint.

In a particular aspect, the interface might comprise a user interfacefor direct interaction between a user (e.g., an administrator oroperator of the wireless service provider and/or access point provider)and the management platform. This interaction may be either unsecured orsecured using any appropriate type of encryption or other securitymethod (e.g., certificate-based encryption, secure sockets layer(“SSL”), etc. For example, the user interface can be used to outputinformation for a user, e.g., by displaying the information on a displaydevice, printing information with a printer, playing audio through aspeaker, etc.; the user interface can also function to receive inputfrom a user, e.g., using standard input devices such as mice and otherpointing devices, motion capture devices, touchpads and/or touchscreens,keyboards (e.g., numeric and/or alphabetic), microphones, etc. Theprocedures undertaken to provide a user interface, therefore, can varydepending on the nature of the implementation; in some cases, providinga user interface can comprise displaying the user interface on a displaydevice; in more typical cases, however, in which the user interface isdisplayed on a device remote from the wireless access point (such as ona client computer, wireless device, etc.), providing the user interfacemight comprise formatting data for transmission to such a device and/ortransmitting, receiving and/or interpreting data that is used to createthe user interface on the remote device (e.g., through the uplinkinterface and/or radios, over a VPN, etc. Alternatively and/oradditionally, the user interface on a client computer (or any otherappropriate user device) might be a web interface, in which the userinterface is provided through one or more web pages that are served froma web server executing on the access point (and/or a web server incommunication with the access point), and are received and displayed bya web browser on the client computer (or other capable user device). Theweb pages can display output from the access point and/or receive inputfrom the user (e.g., by using Web-based forms, via hyperlinks,electronic buttons, etc.). A variety of techniques can be used to createthese Web pages and/or display/receive information, such as JavaScript,Java applications or applets, dynamic HTML and/or AJAX technologies, toname but a few examples.

In many cases, providing a user interface will comprise providing one ormore display screens for receiving configuration information for accesspoint management and/or displaying status information (e.g., using adashboard display that can illustrate current values of variousparameters and statistics), notifications, alarms, etc. Such displayscreens can include one or more user interface elements. As used herein,the term “user interface element” (also described as a “user interfacemechanism” or a “user interface device”) means any text, image, ordevice that can be displayed on a display screen for providinginformation to a user and/or for receiving user input. Some suchelements are commonly referred to as “widgets,” and can include, withoutlimitation, text, text boxes, text fields, tables and/or grids, menus,toolbars, charts, hyperlinks, buttons, lists, combo boxes, checkboxes,radio buttons, and/or the like. It should be appreciated that the choiceof user interface elements for a particular purpose is typicallyimplementation-dependent and/or discretionary.

As noted above, in an aspect of certain embodiments, the user interfaceprovides interaction between a user and a computer system. Hence, whenthis document describes procedures for displaying (or otherwiseproviding) information to a user, or to receiving input from a user, theuser interface may be the vehicle for the exchange of such input/output.

Returning to FIG. 3, the method 300 can further comprise providingdiscrete processing systems for each of the providers (block 315). In anaspect, the discrete processing system can allow each provider toprovide wireless service for its respective subscribers. As noted above,such processing systems can be separate physical processing systems fora provider and/or can be virtualized processing systems within a VMenvironment. Hence, providing a discrete processing system for aparticular provider can include establishing a virtual processing systemwithin the VM environment, assigning such a virtual processing system toa particular provider, assigning physical resources to a particularprovider, and/or the like.

It should be noted as well that not every embodiment need provide suchseparate processing systems. In some cases, a single processing systemmight manage all access point functionality, and for example, multipleproviders might be able to log into that single processing system usingdifferent authentication credentials, and each provider might beauthorized only to perform configuration on those aspects of the accesspoint that do not affect the other providers or general access pointfunctionality.

At block 320, the method 300 might comprise providing dedicatedcommunication links for each of the participating providers. As notedabove, in one aspect, such a dedicated communication link can comprise aVPN between the wireless access point (and/or a discrete processingsystem or management platform thereof) and the provider. Hence,providing such a dedicated communication link can comprise establishinga VPN (and/or virtual local area network (“VLAN”)) between the accesspoint (and/or discrete processing system, which might have its own IPaddress, for example) and a host operated by the provider. A number ofdifferent virtual private networking techniques (including, for example,pseudo-wires, VLAN tagging, point-to-point tunneling, layer 2 VPNs(“L2VPN”), and/or the like) might be suitable for such applications, andany such technologies can be used as appropriate to establish thededicated communication link between the access point and the provider.Similar techniques can be used to establish a dedicated communicationlink between the access point (and/or a general management platformthereof) and an operator of the access point.

At block 325, the method 300 can comprise receiving configuration datafrom one or more of the participating providers. (Generally, eachprovider might have its own configuration data that is specific to theresources of the access point assigned to that provider.) In one aspect,such configuration data can be received by the discrete managementplatform for a particular provider at the interface assigned to thatprovider (e.g., over a dedicated communication link). Such informationmay be received as a text file, as machine to machine data, as a binaryupload, as user input provided to a webpage or other user interface,and/or using any other appropriate mode of information exchange. Theconfiguration data can include any of a variety of different types ofinstructions for controlling operation of the wireless access point(and/or of those resources, such as processing systems, radios,antennas, etc. assigned to a particular provider). Merely by way ofexample, in one set of embodiments, configuration data might compriseinstructions to turn on a radio, turn off a radio, enable and/or disablecommunication on various frequencies, tune networking and/or wirelessservice parameters, and/or the like.

As another example, one or more radios at the wireless access pointmight support a number of different wireless standards, and theconfiguration data might specify a particular standard (or versionthereof, such as WiFi, LTE Release 8 Release 9, Release 10, etc.) towhich transmissions from that provider's radio should conform. As afurther example, a particular provider might have implemented a radiocoordination scheme in that provider's wireless network. Such a radiocoordination scheme can require particular configurations of each radiowithin the network, to optimize network performance, handoff betweendifferent access points, and/or the like. In a particular embodiment,the configuration data can enable the provider to integrate the wirelessaccess point within that radio coordination scheme. In some cases, suchconfiguration might, for example, require establishment of a separatededicated link (e.g., VPN) to a particular network point in theprovider's network to transport traffic in accordance with the radiocoronation scheme.

The method 300, then, can further comprise configuring various resourcesof the access point (e.g., one or more radios assigned to the provider,the provider's discrete processing system, etc.) based on the receivedconfiguration data (block 330). For instance, returning to the examplesabove, configuring the wireless access point might comprise configuringone or more radios to communicate using the specified standard (orversion therefore), to operate in accordance with the specifiedcoordination scheme, etc. In other cases, configuring the access pointmight comprise establishing one or more additional dedicated links(e.g., VPNs) to accommodate a specified radio coordination scheme (block335).

At block 340, the wireless access point receives a communication from awireless subscriber, and at block 345, the method 300 comprisestransmitting that communication to the appropriate provider that servesthat subscriber. The method 200, described above in conjunction withFIG. 2, describes an exemplary process of receiving a communication fromwireless subscriber and routing that communication to the appropriatewireless provider, and such a process can be used to receive suchcommunication and transmit communication to the appropriate provider inthe context of the method 300 as well.

Alternatively and/or additionally, if a particular radio is assigned toa particular provider, and/or is in communication with a particularprovider's discrete processing system, such communication might bereceived and routed by that discrete processing system without requiringthe provider identification techniques described in conjunction withFIG. 2. In this way, for example, some embodiments can functioneffectively as multiple dedicated access points with a dedicated radio(physical or virtual) controlled by and communicating with a dedicatedprocessing system (physical or virtual), which communicates with theprovider's network over a dedicated communication link. Various hybridsof these two techniques can be implemented as well. Merely by way ofexample, a received communication might be examined by a generalmanagement platform to determine the provider associated with thatcommunication, and the communication then could be provided to thediscrete processing system of that provider, which would transmit thecommunication over the dedicated link to its provider. In this way, forexample, the general management platform could maintain overallresponsibility for routing of incoming communications.

In some embodiments, the method 300 comprises compiling performancestatistics (block 350). In some aspects, the general management platformmight collect such statistics, which can include any data related toperformance and/or usage of the wireless access point by subscribers.Examples of statistics that can be collected include, withoutlimitation, traffic statistics (e.g., bytes in/out, connections made,lost, etc., errored transmissions/receptions, and/or the like, which canbe assessed for peak and/or average numbers by time-of-day, day-of-week,etc.), indications of capacity available and/or consumed, peak trafficperiods, identifying information (e.g., device identification, such aswireless device MAC address, SIM identifier, IMEI, IP address, etc.;carrier identification), session time, total number of sessions, mobiledevice location (geocode) information, direction and/or distance of amobile device from the access point, signal quality, transmission type,and/or the like. In an aspect of some embodiments, statistics can begathered not only for subscribers of participating providers, but alsofor subscribers of other carriers (even if those subscribers are notauthorized to communicate through the wireless access point at thattime). Registration requests and other communications from such devicescan be compiled and identified (e.g., by carrier).

The method 300 might further comprise categorizing such statistics(block 355). Merely by way of example, statistics can be categorized byprovider, for example by collecting all statistics into a table andfiltering the table by a provider identifier associated with eachcommunication. After segregating statistics by provider, theprovider-specific statistics can be communicated to each respectiveprovider, for example by displaying the statistics on a dashboard in theprovider's management interface, emailing statistics to the provider,injecting the statistics into logs or other records, and/or the like.Because statistics can be collected for all devices communicating withthe wireless access point, provider-specific statistics can be compiledeven for carriers that currently do not participate in the wirelessaccess point. In particular, such statistics can be analyzed todetermine how many of that carrier's subscribers have attempted toindicate with the wireless access point, and/or the performance that theaccess point would be able to provide to that carrier's subscribers.

Thus, in an aspect of some embodiments, the method 300 comprisesgenerating a marketing report (block 360). The marketing report caninclude statistics about a nonparticipating carrier's subscribers, andcan be used to persuade that carrier that it should participate in thewireless access point to better service its own subscribers. Informationprovided within the marketing report could include any of the statisticsnoted above and/or collected by the access point, in any type of formatsuch as reports, charts, etc., counts of unsuccessful registrations orattempts by nonparticipating carrier's customers; counts of free accessgiven; session attempt times, etc. Such a marketing report can then beprovided to personnel of the access point operator, who can approach thenonparticipating carrier to seek a business relationship with thatcarrier. In some embodiments, the wireless access point might beconfigured to obtain location information on serviced mobile devices(e.g., based on triangulation of the device, GPS or other location datareceived from the device, etc.). In such embodiments, maps can begenerated based on mobile location to demonstrate coverage area of thecell. That information can also be further sub-categorized to show datarates at that particular distance, so the data rate contours can begenerated to further characterize coverage and performance to serviceproviders contemplating whether to participate.

In some cases, the method 300 can comprise calculating a service fee(block 365) for one or more of the participating providers. Someembodiments, for example charge providers a fee for providing wirelessservice through the access point. Such fees can be based on any numberof factors. Merely by way of example, in some cases, a provider might becharged a flat, periodic (e.g., monthly, annual, etc.) fee for unlimitedusage of the wireless access point. In other cases, such fees might beusage-based. Merely by way of example, a fee charged to a provider mightbe based, at least in part, on an amount of data traffic (eitherdownstream, upstream, and/or both) handled by the wireless access pointon behalf of the provider over a particular billing period. In anotherembodiment, the fee might be based, at least in part, on a number ofsubscribers serviced, a number of wireless minutes provided, on a typeof service provided (WiFi, 3G, LTE, etc.), on a time of day and/or dayof week in which service is provided, on a quality of service (e.g.,real-time delivery, best effort delivery, etc.). In some cases, theremay be pricing tiers based on one more of these factors, and/or thecalculated fee might be based on a combination of factors. For instance,the access point provider might charge a flat monthly fee plus a priceper GB of WiFi traffic, plus another price per GB of LTE traffic.

At block 370, then, the method 300 can comprise billing one or more ofthe providers for use of the wireless access point (and/or, moreparticularly, for service provided on behalf of the provider through thewireless access point). Any number of techniques can be used to bill aprovider for use of the wireless access point. Merely by way of example,in some cases, the access point might provide usage statistics to abilling computer (e.g., a mainframe, transaction processor, etc.) in theaccess point provider's network, which then might produce electronicand/or paper invoices and submit those invoices using in a standardmanner on a periodic basis. Any number of billing arrangements arepossible in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 4 provides a schematic illustration of one embodiment of a computersystem 400 that can perform the methods provided by various otherembodiments, as described herein, and/or can function as the processingsystem of a multi-service provider wireless access point, a web serverfor providing a management interface, a computer for managing featuresof the wireless access point, and/or the like. It should be noted thatFIG. 4 is meant only to provide a generalized illustration of variouscomponents, of which one or more (or none) of each may be utilized asappropriate. FIG. 4, therefore, broadly illustrates how individualsystem elements may be implemented in a relatively separated orrelatively more integrated manner.

The computer system 400 is shown comprising hardware elements that canbe electrically coupled via a bus 405 (or may otherwise be incommunication, as appropriate). The hardware elements may include one ormore processors 410, including without limitation one or moregeneral-purpose processors and/or one or more special-purpose processors(such as digital signal processing chips, graphics accelerationprocessors, and/or the like); one or more input devices 415, which caninclude without limitation a mouse, a keyboard and/or the like; and oneor more output devices 420, which can include without limitation adisplay device, a printer and/or the like.

The computer system 400 may further include (and/or be in communicationwith) one or more storage devices 425, which can comprise, withoutlimitation, local and/or network accessible storage, and/or can include,without limitation, a disk drive, a drive array, an optical storagedevice, solid-state storage device such as a random access memory(“RAM”) and/or a read-only memory (“ROM”), which can be programmable,flash-updateable and/or the like. Such storage devices may be configuredto implement any appropriate data stores, including without limitation,various file systems, database structures, and/or the like.

The computer system 400 might also include a communications subsystem430, which can include without limitation a modem, a network card(wireless or wired), an infra-red communication device, a wirelesscommunication device and/or chipset (such as a Bluetooth™ device, an802.11 device, a WiFi device, a WiMax device, a WWAN device, cellularcommunication facilities, etc.), and/or the like. The communicationssubsystem 430 may permit data to be exchanged with a network (such asthe network described below, to name one example), with other computersystems, and/or with any other devices described herein. In manyembodiments, the computer system 400 will further comprise a workingmemory 435, which can include a RAM or ROM device, as described above.

The computer system 400 also may comprise software elements, shown asbeing currently located within the working memory 435, including anoperating system 440, device drivers, executable libraries, and/or othercode, such as one or more application programs 445, which may comprisecomputer programs provided by various embodiments, and/or may bedesigned to implement methods, and/or configure systems, provided byother embodiments, as described herein. Merely by way of example, one ormore procedures described with respect to the method(s) discussed abovemight be implemented as code and/or instructions executable by acomputer (and/or a processor within a computer); in an aspect, then,such code and/or instructions can be used to configure and/or adapt ageneral purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or moreoperations in accordance with the described methods.

A set of these instructions and/or code might be encoded and/or storedon a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, such as thestorage device(s) 425 described above. In some cases, the storage mediummight be incorporated within a computer system, such as the system 400.In other embodiments, the storage medium might be separate from acomputer system (i.e., a removable medium, such as a compact disc,etc.), and/or provided in an installation package, such that the storagemedium can be used to program, configure and/or adapt a general purposecomputer with the instructions/code stored thereon. These instructionsmight take the form of executable code, which is executable by thecomputer system 400 and/or might take the form of source and/orinstallable code, which, upon compilation and/or installation on thecomputer system 400 (e.g., using any of a variety of generally availablecompilers, installation programs, compression/decompression utilities,etc.) then takes the form of executable code.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that substantialvariations may be made in accordance with specific requirements. Forexample, customized hardware (such as programmable logic controllers,field-programmable gate arrays, application-specific integratedcircuits, and/or the like) might also be used, and/or particularelements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portablesoftware, such as applets, etc.), or both. Further, connection to othercomputing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed.

As mentioned above, in one aspect, some embodiments may employ acomputer system (such as the computer system 400) to perform methods inaccordance with various embodiments of the invention. According to a setof embodiments, some or all of the procedures of such methods areperformed by the computer system 400 in response to processor 410executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions (which mightbe incorporated into the operating system 440 and/or other code, such asan application program 445) contained in the working memory 435. Suchinstructions may be read into the working memory 435 from anothercomputer readable medium, such as one or more of the storage device(s)425. Merely by way of example, execution of the sequences ofinstructions contained in the working memory 435 might cause theprocessor(s) 410 to perform one or more procedures of the methodsdescribed herein.

The terms “machine readable medium” and “computer readable medium,” asused herein, refer to any medium that participates in providing datathat causes a machine to operation in a specific fashion. In anembodiment implemented using the computer system 400, various computerreadable media might be involved in providing instructions/code toprocessor(s) 410 for execution and/or might be used to store and/orcarry such instructions/code (e.g., as signals). In manyimplementations, a computer readable medium is a non-transitory,physical and/or tangible storage medium. Such a medium may take manyforms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media,and transmission media. Non-volatile media includes, for example,optical and/or magnetic disks, such as the storage device(s) 425.Volatile media includes, without limitation, dynamic memory, such as theworking memory 435. Transmission media includes, without limitation,coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, including the wires thatcomprise the bus 405, as well as the various components of thecommunication subsystem 430 (and/or the media by which thecommunications subsystem 430 provides communication with other devices).Hence, transmission media can also take the form of waves (includingwithout limitation radio, acoustic and/or light waves, such as thosegenerated during radio-wave and infra-red data communications).

Common forms of physical and/or tangible computer readable mediainclude, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, a hard disk,magnetic tape, or any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, any other opticalmedium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patternsof holes, a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chipor cartridge, a carrier wave as described hereinafter, or any othermedium from which a computer can read instructions and/or code.

Various forms of computer readable media may be involved in carrying oneor more sequences of one or more instructions to the processor(s) 410for execution. Merely by way of example, the instructions may initiallybe carried on a magnetic disk and/or optical disc of a remote computer.A remote computer might load the instructions into its dynamic memoryand send the instructions as signals over a transmission medium to bereceived and/or executed by the computer system 400. These signals,which might be in the form of electromagnetic signals, acoustic signals,optical signals and/or the like, are all examples of carrier waves onwhich instructions can be encoded, in accordance with variousembodiments of the invention.

The communications subsystem 430 (and/or components thereof) generallywill receive the signals, and the bus 405 then might carry the signals(and/or the data, instructions, etc. carried by the signals) to theworking memory 435, from which the processor(s) 405 retrieves andexecutes the instructions. The instructions received by the workingmemory 435 may optionally be stored on a storage device 425 eitherbefore or after execution by the processor(s) 410.

While certain features and aspects have been described with respect toexemplary embodiments, one skilled in the art will recognize thatnumerous modifications are possible. For example, the methods andprocesses described herein may be implemented using hardware components,software components, and/or any combination thereof. Further, whilevarious methods and processes described herein may be described withrespect to particular structural and/or functional components for easeof description, methods provided by various embodiments are not limitedto any particular structural and/or functional architecture but insteadcan be implemented on any suitable hardware, firmware and/or softwareconfiguration. Similarly, while certain functionality is ascribed tocertain system components, unless the context dictates otherwise, thisfunctionality can be distributed among various other system componentsin accordance with the several embodiments.

Moreover, while the procedures of the methods and processes describedherein are described in a particular order for ease of description,unless the context dictates otherwise, various procedures may bereordered, added, and/or omitted in accordance with various embodiments.Moreover, the procedures described with respect to one method or processmay be incorporated within other described methods or processes;likewise, system components described according to a particularstructural architecture and/or with respect to one system may beorganized in alternative structural architectures and/or incorporatedwithin other described systems. Hence, while various embodiments aredescribed with—or without—certain features for ease of description andto illustrate exemplary aspects of those embodiments, the variouscomponents and/or features described herein with respect to a particularembodiment can be substituted, added and/or subtracted from among otherdescribed embodiments, unless the context dictates otherwise.Consequently, although several exemplary embodiments are describedabove, it will be appreciated that the invention is intended to coverall modifications and equivalents within the scope of the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of providing wireless service formultiple service providers from a single access point, the methodcomprising: providing a multi-service provider wireless access pointhaving one or more radios to communicate with wireless devices and anuplink interface to provide an uplink connection to a plurality ofwireless service providers; establishing, for each of the plurality ofwireless service providers, a dedicated management platform for eachwireless service provider to manage wireless service provided by thatwireless service provider; providing a plurality of dedicatedcommunication links, each of the plurality of dedicated communicationlinks providing secure communication between the uplink interface andone of the wireless service providers; receiving, via a first dedicatedcommunication link, configuration data from the one of the wirelessservice providers; configuring one or more radios assigned to the one ofthe wireless service providers based on the received configuration data;and establishing one or more virtual private networks (“VPNs”) via theone or more configured radios assigned to the one of the wirelessservice providers.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or moreradios comprise one or more long term evolution (“LTE”) radios.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the one or more radios comprise one or moreWiFi radios.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more radioscomprise one or more software defined radios.
 5. The method of claim 1,further comprising: receiving, via the first dedicated communicationlink, configuration data from each of one or more other wireless serviceproviders of the plurality of wireless service providers; configuringone or more second radios assigned to each of the one or more otherwireless service providers based on the received configuration data; andestablishing one or more second VPNs via the one or more configuredsecond radios assigned to the one or more other wireless serviceproviders.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: providing, foreach of the plurality of wireless service providers, a discreteprocessing system to provide wireless service to subscribers of eachrespective wireless service provider.
 7. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: establishing a general management platform, separate fromeach of the dedicated management consoles, for managing themulti-service provider wireless access point.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein the uplink interface comprises an Ethernet interface, andwherein each of the dedicated communication links comprises a VPN tunnelbetween the multi-service provider wireless access point and a wirelessservice provider associated with that dedicated communication link. 9.The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration data implements a radiocoordination scheme of the one of the wireless service providers, andwherein establishing one or more VPNs comprises establishing one or moreVPNs to support the radio coordination scheme.
 10. The method of claim1, wherein the configuration data specifies a version of a wirelesscommunication standard, and wherein configuring one or more radioscomprises configuring the one or more radios to communicate using thespecified version of the wireless communication standard.
 11. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: receiving communications from aplurality of wireless devices; compiling performance statistics based oncommunications from the plurality of wireless devices; and categorizingthe performance statistics by wireless service provider.
 12. The methodof claim 11, wherein the plurality of wireless devices comprises one ormore devices associated with a non-participating wireless serviceprovider other than the plurality of wireless service providers.
 13. Themethod of claim 12, further comprising: generating a marketing reportfor the non-participating wireless service provider, the marketingreport comprising statistics about subscribers of the non-participatingwireless service provider capable of accessing the multi-providerwireless access point.
 14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:calculating, with a computer, a service fee for each of the plurality ofwireless service providers; and billing each of the plurality ofwireless service providers the respective service fee.
 15. The method ofclaim 14, wherein the service fee for at least one of the wirelessservice providers is a periodic flat fee.
 16. The method of claim 14,wherein the service fee for at least one of the wireless serviceproviders is a usage fee calculated from one or more data elementsselected from at least one of periodic airtime, periodic data transfer,aggregate number of calls, time of day, day of week, or traffic type.17. A multi-service provider wireless access point, comprising: one ormore radios to communicate with wireless devices; an uplink interface toprovide an uplink connection with a plurality of dedicated communicationlinks; one or more processors in communication with the one or moreradios and the uplink interface; and a non-transitory machine readablemedium having encoded thereon a set of instructions executable by theone or more processors to cause the multi-service provider wirelessaccess point to: establish, for each of the plurality of wirelessservice providers, a dedicated management platform for each wirelessservice provider to manage wireless service provided by that wirelessservice provider; provide the plurality of dedicated communicationlinks, each of the plurality of dedicated communication links providingsecure communication between the uplink interface and one of thewireless service providers; receive, via a first dedicated communicationlink, configuration data from the one of the wireless service providers;configure one or more radios assigned to the one of the wireless serviceproviders based on the received configuration data; and establish one ormore virtual private networks (“VPNs”) via the one or more configuredradios assigned to the one of the wireless service providers.
 18. Themulti-service provider wireless access point of claim 17, wherein theone or more processors is a plurality of processors, and wherein theplurality of processors comprises one or more processors dedicated toeach wireless service provider, to provide each wireless serviceprovider with a discrete processing system to provide wireless serviceto subscribers of each respective wireless service provider.
 19. Themulti-service provider wireless access point of claim 17, wherein theone or more processors are configured to support a plurality of virtualmachines, and wherein the plurality of virtual machines comprises one ormore virtual machines dedicated to each wireless service provider, toprovide each wireless service provider with a discrete processing systemto provide wireless service to subscribers of each respective wirelessservice provider.